Television broadcast receiver

ABSTRACT

A television receiver is connected to a multi-directional antenna, and stores, in a memory, a receiving direction table containing: channel numbers; best receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna for receiving the respective channels; and register channel information indicating whether the channels are registered as selectable or non-selectable. The receiving direction table is used for selecting each channel. Based on the operation of a user interface by a user (S 42 ), the register channel information of the receiving direction table can be changed (S 44,  S 46 ), so that the user can optionally set selectable channels. Best receiving directions of channels registered in the receiving direction table as non-selectable are deleted from the receiving direction table (S 45 ), so that the amount of information stored in the memory can be reduced, thereby saving capacity of the memory.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a television broadcast receiver forreceiving television broadcast signals transmitted from multipledirections.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the North American Continent where ATSC (Advanced Television SystemsCommittee) digital television is broadcast, big cities spread across theplains. Accordingly, digital television broadcast signals, which arebroadcast in big cities or their suburbs, can be received in othercities or intermediate areas between the cities. In addition, NTSC(National Television System Committee) analog television continues to bebroadcast. From the viewpoint of each television user or viewer,television broadcast signals come from various directions. Thus, it isnecessary for the television user to adjust the direction of an antennain the direction of a transmission tower transmitting a televisionbroadcast signal of a television program which the user wishes to watch.

For this reason, multi-directional antennas such as a so-called smartantenna are put to practical use. The EIA (Electronic IndustriesAssociation)-909 standard provides a smart antenna having sixteenequiangular receiving directions in 360 degrees. Multi-directionalantennas which are actually commercialized have various types such asone that changes the receiving direction by rotating the antenna using amotor, and one that has multiple antennas and selects an active antennadirection by turning on and off electronic switches (the antennathemselves do not rotate).

Some of television broadcast receivers each connected to suchmulti-directional antenna are each set to be able to adjust thereceiving direction of the multi-directional antenna, and have anomni-directional scanning function to automatically select the receivingdirection of the multi-directional antenna in which a televisionbroadcast signal of a channel selected by a television user can be bestreceived (such receiving direction being hereafter referred to simply as“best receiving direction”).

Further, it is known to determine a best receiving direction for eachchannel, and preliminarily store information of the best receivingdirection in a memory so as to automatically control the receivingdirection of an antenna for channel selection on the basis of the storedinformation (refer to e.g. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications Hei8-250920 and Hei 4-345329).

However, according to the prior art including the two Japanese PatentPublications, it is not possible for a user to optionally set selectablechannels and non-selectable channels, although it is possible to storeinformation of each selectable channel in a memory, and to control anantenna for channel selection on the basis of the stored information.Furthermore, from the viewpoint of saving memory capacity, it is notpreferable to store, in the memory, information of channels which theuser does not desire to view.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a television broadcastreceiver that can allow a user to optionally set selectable channels andnon-selectable channels, and that can save capacity of a memory forstoring information of respective channels of television broadcastsignals transmitted from broadcast stations.

According to the present invention, we provide a television broadcastreceiver connected to a multi-directional antenna having predeterminedmultiple receiving directions for receiving a television broadcastsignal, transmitted in one of multiple channels from one of multiplebroadcast stations, by making one of the multiple receiving directionsactive.

The television broadcast receiver comprises: a tuner connected to themulti-directional antenna for receiving a television broadcast signal; amemory for storing a receiving direction table containing information ofchannel numbers of the channels transmitted from the broadcast stations,information of best receiving directions of the multi-directionalantenna for receiving the channels, and register channel informationindicating whether the channels are registered therein as selectablechannels or non-selectable channels; a channel selection control unitfor controlling a channel selection operation for a channel registeredin the receiving direction table as a selectable channel in a mannerthat based on the receiving direction table stored in the memory, thechannel selection control unit outputs, to the multi-directionalantenna, a receiving direction control signal to command themulti-directional antenna for an active receiving direction, and alsooutputs, to the tuner, a channel control signal to command the tuner fora channel to select; and an omni-directional scanning unit.

The omni-directional scanning unit is provided to perform anomni-directional scanning process: of sequentially outputting thereceiving direction control signal to the multi-directional antenna tosequentially command the multi-directional antenna for all the receivingdirections, and to receive the television broadcast signal in therespective receiving directions; and of determining the best receivingdirection and the register channel information of arbitrary one of thechannels, transmitted from the broadcast stations, on the basis ofsignal intensities of the television broadcast signal in the respectivereceiving directions; and further of renewing the content of thereceiving direction table on the basis of the determination.

The television broadcast receiver- further comprises a user interface tobe operated by a user for manually changing the register channelinformation of the receiving direction table stored in the memory, andalso comprises a receiving direction table editing unit for performing areceiving direction table editing process in a manner: that when basedon the operation of the user interface by the user, a channel registeredin the receiving direction table as a selectable channel is newlyregistered in the receiving direction table as a non-selectable channel,the receiving direction table editing unit deletes the best receivingdirection of the channel in the receiving direction table; and that whenbased on the operation of the user interface by the user, a channelregistered in the receiving direction table as a non-selectable channelis newly registered in the receiving direction table as a selectablechannel, the omni-directional scanning unit determines a best receivingdirection of the channel, and stores the thus determined best receivingdirection in the receiving direction table.

According to the television broadcast receiver of the present invention,based on the operation of a user interface by a user, it is possible tochange the register channel information of the receiving directiontable, which indicates whether the respective channels are registered asselectable or non-selectable. Accordingly, the user can optionally setselectable channels. Thus, the user can preliminarily delete channels inbad receiving conditions from candidates of selectable channels.

Furthermore, when based on the operation of the user interface by theuser, a channel registered in the receiving direction table as aselectable channel is newly registered in the receiving direction tableas a non-selectable channel, the best receiving direction in thereceiving direction table is deleted from the receiving direction table.This makes it possible to reduce the amount of information stored in thememory, thereby saving capacity of the memory. In addition, when basedon the operation of the user interface by the user, a channel registeredin the receiving direction table as a non-selectable channel is newlyregistered in the receiving direction table as a selectable channel, abest receiving direction of the channel can be easily renewed by anomni-directional scanning process.

While the novel features of the present invention are set forth in theappended claims, the present invention will be better understood fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described hereinafter with reference tothe annexed drawings. It is to be noted that all the drawings are shownfor the purpose of illustrating the technical concept of the presentinvention or embodiments thereof, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a situation in which a user at homereceives TV (television) broadcast signals of broadcast stations fromtransmission towers located in various zones;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a TV broadcast receiveraccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a chart showing and explaining multiple receiving directionsof a smart antenna connected to the TV broadcast receiver;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an omni-directional scanning processperformed by the TV broadcast receiver;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an all-channel scanning process performedby the TV broadcast receiver;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an example of a receiving directiontable created by the all-channel scanning process in the TV broadcastreceiver prior to the receiving direction editing process;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing a receiving direction table editingprocess according to the TV broadcast receiver;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a monitor screen forthe receiving direction table editing process; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing the receiving direction table afterthe receiving direction table editing process.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The best modes and preferred embodiments of the present invention willbe described hereinafter with reference to the annexed drawings. Notethat the specific embodiments described are not intended to cover theentire scope of the present invention, and hence the present inventionis not limited to only the specific embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a situation in which a user in ageneral home receives digital television (TV) broadcast signals ofbroadcast stations (hereafter referred to simply as “TV broadcastsignals”) from transmission towers located in various zones. Generally,if a TV broadcast receiver receives digital TV broadcast signals ofdigital (terrestrial) TV broadcast which have a signal intensity equalto or higher than a predetermined threshold value, it is possible toobtain images of a certain quality or higher, using error correction andthe like. Here, it is assumed that as shown in FIG. 1, the TV broadcastreceiver in the home of the user can receive TV broadcast signalstransmitted from transmission towers spreading across multiple locationse.g. in zone A, zone B and zone C, thereby making it possible to view TVprograms from the broadcast stations. A multi-directional antenna,called a smart antenna, having multiple receiving directions is put topractical use for such situation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a TV broadcast receiver 1according to an embodiment of the present embodiment. The TV broadcastreceiver 1 is connected to a smart antenna (multi-directional antenna) 2having multiple receiving directions, and switches an active receivingdirection of the smart antenna (namely, makes one of the multiplereceiving directions of the smart antenna active) so as to receive a TVbroadcast signal transmitted in a given frequency band from one of thetransmission towers spreading across the multiple locations, and tooutput a TV program contained in the TV broadcast signal in each channelto a monitor 3. Note that in the present embodiment, a physical channelthat is a frequency band of carrier wave used for a TV program isreferred to simply as “channel”.

Referring to FIG. 2, the TV broadcast receiver 1 comprises: a tuner 11connected to the smart antenna 2 for receiving a TV broadcast signal; afront end 12 for subjecting the TV broadcast signal received by thetuner 11 to predetermined signal processing, and decoding the receivedTV broadcast signal; an MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) decoder 13for decoding the TV broadcast signal which is an MPEG-compressed signal;an on-screen display (OSD) output circuit 14 (output circuit) forsuperimposing a signal of a predetermined display image on the decodedTV broadcast signal; a microprocessor 15 for detecting receivingconditions of TV broadcast signals received by the tuner 11 so as tocontrol a control unit 22 of the smart antenna 2, and for controllingthe entire TV broadcast receiver 1; and a memory 16 for storing areceiving direction table containing later described register channelinformation.

The TV broadcast receiver 1 further comprises: an operation unit (userinterface) 18 to be operated by a user for manually changing or editingthe register channel information in the receiving direction table; amodular terminal 17; and so on. The operation unit 18 can be replaced bya remote control receiver (not shown) to operate with a remote control(user interface, not shown) in a manner that the remote control receiveris connected to the microprocessor 15, and the user operates the remotecontrol to wirelessly send, to the remote control receiver, an operationsignal for changing or editing the register channel information in thereceiving direction table, while the remote control receiver receivesthe operation signal from the remote control, and outputs the receivedoperation signal to the microprocessor 15.

The microprocessor 15 serves as a channel selection control unit 15 afor controlling a channel selection operation for a channel registeredin the receiving direction table as a selectable channel in a mannerthat based on the receiving direction table stored in the memory 16, themicroprocessor 15 outputs, to the smart antenna 2, a receiving directioncontrol signal to command the smart antenna 2 for an active receivingdirection, and also outputs, to the tuner 11, a channel control signalto command the tuner 11 for a channel to select. Furthermore, themicroprocessor 15 serves as an omni-directional scanning unit 15 b, anall-channel scanning unit 15 c and a receiving direction table editingunit 15 d for performing an omni-directional scanning process, anall-channel scanning process and a receiving direction table editingprocess, respectively, as will be described later.

The receiving direction table stored in the memory 16 contains: channelnumbers of respective channels transmitted from the broadcast stationsvia the transmission towers; best receiving directions of the smartantenna 2 for receiving the respective channels; and register channelinformation indicating whether the respective channels are registered asselectable channels, or registered as non-selectable channels. Based onthe register channel information, the microprocessor 15 performs channelselection from only the channels which are registered therein as theselectable channels. In the channel selection, the microprocessor 15reads, from the memory 16, the best receiving direction of a channel tobe selected. The microprocessor 15 further outputs, to the smart antenna2, a receiving direction control signal to command the best receivingdirection for the channel selection. In the descriptions below, thestate where a channel is registered as a selectable channel is referredto as “on-state of register flag” or “register flag on”, while the statewhere a channel is registered as a non-selectable channel is referred toas “off-state of register flag” or “register flag off”.

When a user operates to change the register channel information in thereceiving direction table stored in the memory 16 in a later describedreceiving direction table editing process, the OSD output circuit 14outputs, to the monitor 3, an image showing the channel numbers, thebest receiving directions and the register channel informationregistered in the receiving direction table.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing and explaining multiple receiving directionsof the smart antenna 2. When connected to the smart antenna 2, the TVbroadcast receiver 1 according to the present embodiment receives, andmeasures receiving conditions of, TV broadcast signals coming fromsixteen receiving directions provided in the EIA-909 standard asindicated by D1 to D16 in FIG. 3, respectively. The smart antenna 2comprises: an antenna unit 21 for receiving TV broadcast signals fromthe sixteen receiving directions D1 to D16 by mechanically orelectronically switching an active receiving direction (namely, makingone of the multiple receiving directions active); and a control unit 22for controlling the operation of the antenna unit 21. Based on thereceiving direction control signal from the TV broadcast receiver 1, thecontrol unit 22 makes active one of the multiple receiving directions D1to D16 of the antenna unit 21 which is commanded by the receivingdirection control signal.

Hereinafter, referring to the flow chart of FIG. 4, an omni-directionalscanning process performed by the TV broadcast receiver 1 fordetermining e.g. a best receiving direction for an arbitrary one ofbroadcast stations (arbitrary one of transmission towers) will bedescribed.

When a user selects an omni-directional scanning mode, and sets achannel for which a best receiving direction is to be determined, themicroprocessor 15 sets an initial value n (n=16 here) of a counteraccording to the number of the receiving directions D1 to D16 of thesmart antenna 2 (S1). The microprocessor 15 outputs, to the smartantenna 2, a receiving direction control signal to command an nthreceiving direction (S2), so that the tuner 11 receives a TV broadcastsignal of the set channel (S3). The TV broadcast receiver 1 furthermeasures the signal intensity of the received TV broadcast signal, andstores the measured data of signal intensity in the memory 16 (S4).

Thereafter, the microprocessor 15 decrements the counter by one (S5),and determines whether or not the TV broadcast receiver 1 has measuredsignal intensities of the received TV broadcast signal for all thereceiving directions of the smart antenna 2 (S6). If the TV broadcastreceiver 1 has not measured signal intensities of the TV broadcastsignal for all the receiving directions (NO in S6), the TV broadcastreceiver 1 goes back to the step S2, and measures the signal intensityor intensities of the TV broadcast signal not having been measured (morespecifically measures the signal intensity of the TV broadcast signal,for each subsequent receiving channel until completion). In other words,for determining the best receiving direction of a channel, themicroprocessor 15 (omni-directional scanning unit 15 b) performs anomni-directional scanning process by sequentially outputting thereceiving direction control signal to the smart antenna 2 tosequentially command the smart antenna 2 for all the receivingdirections, and to receive the TV broadcast signal in the respectivereceiving directions, so as to sequentially scan all the receivingdirections of the smart antenna 2.

If the TV broadcast receiver 1 completes the measurements of the signalintensities of the TV broadcast signal for all the receiving directions(YES in S6), so that the TV broadcast receiver 1 stores all the measureddata of signal intensities in the memory 16, the microprocessor 15 readsthe measured data stored in the memory 16. The microprocessor 15 thencompares all the signal intensities (S7), and thereby determines thereceiving direction to give the maximum signal intensity as a bestreceiving direction of the TV broadcast signal (S8), and furtherregisters the best receiving direction for the channel in the receivingdirection table (S9).

The microprocessor 15 furthermore determines whether or not the signalintensity of the best receiving direction is equal to or higher than apredetermined threshold value (S10). If it is equal to or higher thanthe predetermined threshold value (YES in S10), the microprocessor 15sets the register flag on for the channel in the receiving directiontable (S11), thereby ending the process. On the other hand, if thesignal intensity of the best receiving direction is lower than thepredetermined threshold value (NO in S10), the microprocessor 15 doesnot set the register flag on for the channel in the receiving directiontable (namely maintains the off-state of register flag), thereby endingthe process. In other words, based on the signal intensities of the TVbroadcast signal in the respective receiving directions, themicroprocessor 15 (omni-directional scanning unit 15 b) performs anomni-directional scanning process by determining the best receivingdirection and the register channel information of arbitrary one of thechannels transmitted from the broadcast stations, and by renewing thecontent of the receiving direction table on the basis of thedetermination.

Next, referring to the flow chart of FIG. 5, an all-channel scanningprocess performed by the microprocessor 15 for determining e.g. a bestreceiving direction for each of all channels (all receivable channels)transmitted from all broadcast stations (all transmission towers) willbe described.

When a user selects an all-channel scanning mode, the microprocessor 15sets, according to the number of channels transmitted from the broadcaststations, an initial value m of a counter as well as a number m_(max) ofchannels for each of which a best receiving direction is to bedetermined (S21). By performing the omni-directional scanning processdescribed above for an mth channel, the microprocessor 15 determines abest receiving direction and register channel information for the mthchannel, and registers the best receiving direction and the registerchannel information in the receiving direction table (S22).

Thereafter, the microprocessor 15 increments the counter by one (S23),and determines whether or not the microprocessor 15 itself has completedthe omni-directional scanning process for all the channels (S24). If themicroprocessor 15 has not completed the omni-directional scanningprocess for all the channels (NO in S24), the microprocessor 15 goesback to the step 22, and performs the omni-directional scanning processfor the channels not having been subjected to the omni-directionalscanning process (more specifically performs the omni-directionalscanning process for each subsequent channel until completion). If themicroprocessor 15 completes the omni-directional scanning process forall the channels (YES in S24), the microprocessor 15 ends the process.In other words, the microprocessor 15 (all-channel scanning unit 15 c)causes the omni-directional scanning unit 15 b to repeat theomni-directional scanning process for determining the best receivingdirection and the register channel information of each of all thechannels transmitted from the broadcast stations, and for renewing thecontent of the receiving direction table on the basis of thedetermination.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a receiving direction table 50created by the above all-channel scanning process. The receivingdirection table 50 stores best receiving directions 52 and registerchannel information 53 that correspond to channel numbers 51. In FIG. 6,each on-state of register flag is indicated by mark “◯”, while eachoff-state of register flag is indicated by a blank space. Further,respective numbers shown in the column of the best receiving directions52 correspond to the receiving directions D1 to D16 of the smart antenna2 shown in FIG. 3 (for example, “2” corresponding to the receivingdirection “D2”, and “3 corresponding to the receiving direction D3”).

Next, referring to FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, a receiving direction table editingprocess for editing the receiving direction table 50 will be described.Referring to the flow chart of FIG. 7, when a user operates theoperation unit 18 to select the receiving direction table editing mode,the microprocessor 15 reads a receiving direction table 50 stored in thememory 16, and outputs the receiving direction table 50 in apredetermined format on a monitor screen 30 of the monitor 3 (S41).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the monitor screen 30 which is displayed onthe monitor 3 for the receiving direction table editing process, andwhich displays channel numbers 51, best receiving directions 52 andregister channel information 53, on the basis of the receiving directiontable 50 shown in FIG. 6. In the example of the monitor screen 30 ofFIG. 8, channels “2ch”, “3ch”, “4ch” and “5ch” are displayed as thechannel numbers 51, and best receiving directions 52 for the respectivechannels except for “5ch” in the off-state of the register flag areshown by arrows each in a circle. Further, the channels “2ch”, “3ch” and“4ch”, which are registered in the receiving direction table 50 asselectable channels, are each indicated by “ON”, while the channel “5ch”registered as a non-selectable channel is indicated by “OFF”. On themonitor screen 30, the user selects a channel to change in the registerchannel information 53 by operating a cursor 31 using the operation unit18.

When the user selects the channel to change in the register channelinformation 53 (YES in S42), the microprocessor 15 determines whether ornot the register flag of the selected channel is in the on-state (S43).If the register flag of the selected channel is ON, i.e. in the on-state(YES in S43), the microprocessor 15 changes the register flag to OFF,i.e. the off-state (S44). At this time, the microprocessor 15 (receivingdirection table editing unit 15 d) deletes the best receiving direction52 of the selected channel from the receiving direction table 50 (S45).In other words, when a channel registered in the receiving directiontable 50 as a selectable channel is newly registered in the receivingdirection table 50 as a non-selectable channel, the microprocessor 15(receiving direction table editing unit 15 d) deletes the best receivingdirection 52 of such channel from the receiving direction table 50.

On the other hand, if the register flag of the selected channel is OFF,i.e. in the off-state (NO in S43), the microprocessor 15 changes theregister flag to ON, i.e. the on-state (S46), and immediately performsan omni-directional scanning process (S47) so as to determine a bestreceiving direction of the channel, and to register the thus determinedbest receiving direction of the channel in the receiving direction table50. In other words, when a channel registered in the receiving directiontable 50 as a non-selectable channel is newly registered in thereceiving direction table 50 as a selectable channel, the microprocessor15 (omni-directional scanning unit 15b) determines the best receivingdirection 52 of the channel, and register the determined best receivingdirection of the channel in the receiving direction table 50.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the receiving direction table 50 after thereceiving direction table editing process described above. As apparentfrom FIG. 6 and FIG. 9, when the state of the receiving direction table50 shown in FIG. 6 prior to the receiving direction editing process ischanged by the operation of the user such that the state of the registerflag for channel “3ch” is changed from the on-state to the off-state,the microprocessor 15 (receiving direction table editing unit 15 d)deletes the best receiving direction “9” from the receiving directiontable 50. On the other hand, when the state of the receiving directiontable 50 shown in FIG. 6 prior to the receiving direction editingprocess is changed by the operation of the user such that the state ofthe register flag for channel “5ch” is changed from the off-state to theon-state, the microprocessor 15 (omni-directional scanning unit 15 b)immediately performs an omni-directional scanning process so as todetermine a best receiving direction “8”, and to register the thusdetermined best receiving direction “8” in the receiving direction table50.

This produces the following effect. For example, even if the receivingcondition for channel “5ch”, whose best receiving direction was “7”prior to the receiving direction table editing process (refer to FIG.6), has changed due to a change e.g. of use environment, it is possibleto register, in the receiving table 50, a best receiving direction “8”(refer to FIG. 9) at the time of editing the receiving direction table50 by performing an omni-directional scanning process again at the timeof the receiving direction the editing process, thereby flexiblyresponding to changes of receiving conditions of receiving TV broadcastsignals.

As described in the foregoing, the TV broadcast receiver 1 of thepresent embodiment makes it possible to change the register channelinformation 53 based on the operation of the operation unit 18 by auser. Accordingly, the user can optionally set selectable channels.Thus, for example, the user can preliminarily delete channels in badreceiving conditions from candidates of selectable channels.

When based on the operation of the operation unit 18 by the user, achannel registered in the receiving direction table 50 as a selectablechannel is newly registered in the receiving direction table 50 as anon-selectable channel, the best receiving direction 52 in the receivingdirection table 50 is deleted from the receiving direction table 50.This makes it possible to reduce the amount of information stored in thememory 16, thereby saving capacity of the memory 16. In addition, whenbased on the operation of the operation unit 18 by the user, a channelregistered in the receiving direction table 50 as a non-selectablechannel is newly registered in the receiving direction table 50 as aselectable channel, a best receiving direction 52 of the channel can beeasily renewed by an omni-directional scanning process.

Furthermore, when the user operates to change the register channelinformation 53, then the channel numbers 51, the best receivingdirections 52 and the register channel information 53 are displayed onthe monitor 3. Thus, the user can change the register channelinformation 53 while referencing the content of the receiving tableinformation 50. Besides, the content of the receiving direction table 50can be easily renewed by performing the all-channel scanning process.

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the aboveembodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example,according to the above embodiment, the TV broadcast receiver 1 displaysthe channel numbers 51, the best receiving directions 52 and theregister channel information 53 on the monitor screen 30 in thereceiving direction table editing mode. However, the TV broadcastreceiver 1 can also be designed to additionally display signal intensityof each best receiving direction on the monitor screen 30 so as to makeit possible for the user to recognize channels in bad receivingconditions at a glance. Furthermore, the TV broadcast signals which theTV broadcast receiver 1 can receive are not limited to digitaltelevision broadcast signals, but can be analog television broadcastsignals. In addition, the number of receiving directions of the smartantenna 2 is not limited to sixteen as exemplified in the aboveembodiment, but can be another number such as four or eight.

The present invention has been described above using presently preferredembodiments, but such description should not be interpreted as limitingthe present invention. Various modifications will become obvious,evident or apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art, who haveread the description. Accordingly, the appended claims should beinterpreted to cover all modifications and alterations which fall withinthe spirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A television broadcast receiver connected to a multi-directionalantenna having predetermined multiple receiving directions for receivinga television broadcast signal, transmitted in one of multiple channelsfrom one of multiple broadcast stations, by making one of the multiplereceiving directions active, the television broadcast receivercomprising: a tuner connected to the multi-directional antenna forreceiving a television broadcast signal; a memory for storing areceiving direction table containing information of channel numbers ofthe channels transmitted from the broadcast stations, information ofbest receiving directions of the multi-directional antenna for receivingthe channels, and register channel information indicating whether thechannels are registered therein as selectable channels or non-selectablechannels; a channel selection control unit for controlling a channelselection operation for a channel registered in the receiving directiontable as a selectable channel in a manner that based on the receivingdirection table stored in the memory, the channel selection control unitoutputs, to the multi-directional antenna, a receiving direction controlsignal to command the multi-directional antenna for an active receivingdirection, and also outputs, to the tuner, a channel control signal tocommand the tuner for a channel to select; an omni-directional scanningunit for performing an omni-directional scanning process: ofsequentially outputting the receiving direction control signal to themulti-directional antenna to sequentially command the multi-directionalantenna for all the receiving directions, and to receive the televisionbroadcast signal in the respective receiving directions; and ofdetermining the best receiving direction and the register channelinformation of arbitrary one of the channels, transmitted from thebroadcast stations, on the basis of signal intensities of the televisionbroadcast signal in the respective receiving directions; and further ofrenewing the content of the receiving direction table on the basis ofthe determination; a user interface to be operated by a user formanually changing the register channel information of the receivingdirection table stored in the memory; and a receiving direction tableediting unit for performing a receiving direction table editing processin a manner: that when based on the operation of the user interface bythe user, a channel registered in the receiving direction table as aselectable channel is newly registered in the receiving direction tableas a non-selectable channel, the receiving direction table editing unitdeletes the best receiving direction of the channel in the receivingdirection table; and that when based on the operation of the userinterface by the user, a channel registered in the receiving directiontable as a non-selectable channel is newly registered in the receivingdirection table as a selectable channel, the omni-directional scanningunit determines a best receiving direction of the channel, and storesthe thus determined best receiving direction in the receiving directiontable.
 2. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 1, whichfurther comprises an output circuit for outputting, to a monitor, animage showing the channel numbers, the best receiving directions and theregister channel information of respective channels registered in thereceiving direction table when the user operates to change the registerchannel information in the receiving direction table stored in thememory.
 3. The television broadcast receiver according to claim 2, whichfurther comprises an all-channel scanning unit for causing theomni-directional scanning unit to repeat the omni-directional scanningprocess for determining the best receiving direction and the registerchannel information of each of all the channels transmitted from thebroadcast stations, and for renewing the content of the receivingdirection table on the basis of the determination.
 4. The televisionbroadcast receiver according to claim 1, which further comprises anall-channel scanning unit for causing the omni-directional scanning unitto repeat the omni-directional scanning process for determining the bestreceiving direction and the register channel information of each of allthe channels transmitted from the broadcast stations, and for renewingthe content of the receiving direction table on the basis of thedetermination.